Mission Accomplished!

Marc Sparks is an entrepreneur who has been involved in more than sixty start-ups. Marc is the founder, owner, and CEO of Timber Creek Capital, a ”family office”.

As parents, we work tirelessly to provide our children with the best of everything that we can afford. It’s human nature to want your children to have a better childhood than we had. Of course, we pray for outrageous good health and safety for our kids, but deep down we want them to have MORE AND MORE!

Then we start spending time and money to ensure our kids get the best roof over their heads, the best clothes, the best food, the best education, the best sports opportunities, and the best life experiences.

In addition to this, I’ve always said that if I could give one thing to my child—just one thing—it would be “Confidence.” Confidence will empower you to be anything you want to be in life…a schoolteacher, a doctor, a business manager, a politician, an astronaut or even the President of the United States!!

Marc Sparks: The Pride of Parenting

We have a daughter and she is (and we are) extremely blessed that she is what I call a “triple threat”… she is smart, she is beautiful on the outside, she is beautiful on the inside, and she possesses tremendous confidence! Our daughter has never met a stranger!

Recently I learned of a second and possibly even more important desire I should have prayed for in addition to “Confidence” for our daughter.

My wife and I have been deeply involved in a “Zero Tolerance” homeless village for over 25 years by the name of The Samaritan Inn (www.thesamaritaninn.org). We recently hosted the Inn’s annual black tie gala, and I had the opportunity to say a few words to the guests—and our daughter was in the audience this year.

At the end of the evening, our daughter posted a photo of the two of us on Facebook, and she wrote…”So Proud of This Man” (me). I didn’t see the picture or comment until the next day, after a hundred people had already “liked” the post. I swelled up like a big baby when I saw the post and photo! My daughter just paid me (her father) the greatest, unsolicited compliment I could have dreamed of, and she did it on a public forum.

Marc Sparks: Blessed be the Ties that Bind

Then I realized that while instilling confidence is critical in a child’s upbringing, raising your children in an environment where they genuinely love you back and respect you as a parent, well, that has to be among the top wishes of any parent.

All parents can feel this tremendous sense of accomplishment by simply living, so when your kids think of fairness, caring and integrity, they think of YOU!

2 Comments

trish - March 14, 2014

It’s more than just parental love and respect… it’s the respect that you’ve shown as an employer, mentor and friend to me and so many others that not only returns to you but also moves forward. That is the definition of effectiveness and making a mark (or “Marc” as the case may be).

Marc Sparks - March 14, 2014

Ahhhh…you are too kind! Its easy when you have such good peeps to share the journey with.